Alex Pereira is champion again after a blistering performance that saw him walk through Magomed Ankalaev in just 80 seconds in the UFC 320 main event.
It was a stunning turnaround from their previous encounter
where Pereira struggled to really get any offense going and Ankalaev ultimately outworked him to earn a decision win. This time, Pereira decided to just to go on the attack from the jump as he marched across the cage and just started unloading strikes on the Russian.
A devastating right hand from Pereira slipped through Ankalaev’s defense and it sent him crashing to the canvas in a heap.
He never got up again.
Pereira followed him to the ground where he started unloading punches, hammer fists and eventually some truly devastating 12-to-6 elbows just coming straight up and down on Ankalaev’s head, which forced referee Herb Dean to rescue him from further harm. Back on his feet, Pereira did his classic celebration as if saying look what I just did and it only took him 1:20 into the fight to get the knockout and reclaim his light heavyweight title.
“Vengeance is never a good thing,” Pereira said about his performance. “It’s kind of a poison sometimes. I told everyone I was not in a good condition last time. Nobody believed it. You saw it.
“It didn’t surprise me [the fight played out that way]. I don’t like to make excuses but I wasn’t well that night. I’m well tonight.”
Given the way the fight played out, it’s hard to argue with Pereira’s assessment because Ankalaev just never got anything going before he was on the ground eating shots and just trying to survive. It was a remarkable showing from Pereira as he just overwhelmed Ankalaev from the first second of the fight until the last.
Following his win with the UFC title back around his waist, Pereira revealed he actually had a post-fight speech planned — perhaps a callout for his next fight — but he ultimately decided to use his time on the interview to pay homage to Jon Jones’ brother Arthur Jones, who died suddenly at just 39 years old on Friday.
“I had a whole speech prepared tonight,” Pereira said. “I talked to me team but We got some news recently, something happened, so I want to give my respect to Jon Jones and his whole family and I want to ask everyone here and everyone at home to take a moment of silence for his brother.”
It was an unbelievably classy move from Pereira, who re-established himself as the most dominant force at 205 pounds while reminding the entire world that even he was capable of having an off night before dismantling Ankalaev in under two minutes when he was at his best.
As far as what’s actually next for him, Jiri Prochazka scored a devastating knockout win over Khalil Rountree Jr at UFC 320 but he already has two losses to Pereira. So that likely leaves Carlos Ulberg off his quick win over Dominick Reyes at UFC Perth but perhaps Pereira has other ideas in mind involving Jones but opted not to make that callout after the former heavyweight and light heavyweight champion suffered such a tragedy this week.
